Aerial mine



Feb. 24, 1942 E. BICKEL AERIAL MINE Filed Oct. 31, 1958 Awe??? INVENTOR. E/P/C'H B/CA EL. MAX Z /&

Patented Feb. 24, 1942 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,274,264 AERIAL DUNE Erich Bickel, Baden, near Zurich, Switzerland Application October 31, 1938, Serial No. 237,951

In Switzerland March it, 1937 3 Claims.

'is hit by the aircraft to be destroyed the wire slides along the aircraft and the mine is rapidly pulled toward the aircraft where it explodes when it touches the aircraft.

The present invention is a modification ofthe invention set forth in my copending application Ser. No. 166,921, filed Oct. 2, 1937.

However, whereas in the device disclosed in the said copending application the parachute is unfolded first, then the wire is laid out and the mine proper moves ahead of the parachute up to the ceiling point of the projectile and then drops down leaving the parachute up above the mine and the wire in the final desired position, with the mine according to thepresent invention, the wire is laid out right away in final desired position having the mine proper already hanging at its lower end as long as the projectile ascends and the parachute is the last thing which is unfolded. In the projectile according to the present invention the mine proper is located at the rear end, the wire spool is in the center and the parachute is at the front or forward end and when the device is unfolded, the mine proper is first dropped, then the wire runs off its spool and ilnally the parachute is pulled out of the head of the projectile and is unfolded.

- The individual parts of the projectile are telescoped into one another so that they hold the rojectile together until the moment or position in the air when or where the laying out of the mine is desired to start. The proiectile comprises alsoa time fuse for detonating a small charge which causes throwing away of the shell containing the individual parts of the mine at.

the desired moment. The wire is pre erably spooled on a stem which is situated in the longitudinal axiscf the projectile. After removal of the shell the wire is unwound due to the revolving motion caused by the riflins oi the gun. In order to assure constant unwinding action at the gradually reducing speed of the revolvin motion of the projectile or rather the part left of it after unfolding,- the configuration of the spool is slightly conical and the spool is wound revolving in layers which are unwound from the outside towards the inside.

The individual parts of which the projectile consists, when assembled, are secured against a motion relatively to one another so that their relative position is not changed when the shot is fired and the rifling of the gun starts to act. 4

In the drawing an example of an embodiment of the present invention is shown:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an air mine projectile according to the present invention.

' Figure 2 diagrammatically shows various phases of the laying out operation of a mine according to the present invention. 1

Figure 3 diagrammatically shows a mine according to the present inventlonlaid out in the air and ready for action.

Like letters and numerals indicate like parts in all figures of the drawing.

a is the head of the projectile which is provided with a time fuse b or a fuse responding to elevation above ground of conventional design. The shell 0 which contains the major parts of the aerial mine is pushed onto a. The

interior of shell 0 is slightly conical so that it can easily be thrown off to the rear. Head a has a central stem 1 the diameter of which is reduced toward the rear of the projectile. Stern f is provided with a bore d containing a fuse compositon which extends into the charge e at the bottom of the projectile. Charge e serves for removing the shell 0 to the rear at the desired moment. The mine proper g is located in the bottom end of shell c. The mine is provided with an impact fuse in of the type described in my copending application Ser. No. 237,950, filed Oct. 31, 1938, or of conventional construction. The wire spool i is located in the center part of the projectile and rests on the mine proper g and abuts against the rims l and 2 of the head part a. The spool is wound in layers and slightly conical whereby the conical configuration is preferably like that of the interior of shell 0. The spool is pushed on the stem j which is preferably also slightly conical and acts as the spindle of the spool during unwinding. The parachute k is located in folded condition in the annular chamber in the head piece a around the stem 1. Parachute k is connected by means of thin threads or cords 3 with the end of wire '1 at the lower inner end of the spool formed by said wire. The other end of the wire is at the upper outer portion of the spool and is connected with the mine a. At the center of the parachutekisanopening lsothatitcanbesymmetrically folded around the stem f: the opening 4 has a desirable aerodynamic effect during unfolding and sinking of the parachute.

Flgure2 in particular shows the mine being laid out; Fig. 2 is not to scale and the wire i is really much longer in proportion to the size of the other parts. The time fuse b ignites the throwing of! charge e through the fuse in channel 41; the resulting gas pressure pulls the shell c from the head a so that it can fall down. At first the mine a is pressed against the spool i and the latter against the rims l and 2 of the head piece a 7 under the influence of the gas pressure. After disappearance of the pressure the mine is under spool i and the mine g into which space the gases caused by the ignition of the charge e enter and, due to their pressure, assist in separating the mine fromthe wire spool.

The-wire is unwound from the spool in the then the wire is unwound and then the parachute same manner as is the thread from a shuttle in looms for weaving, i. 'e. it really is not unwound but pulled oll. The pulling ofl action maycause too great stresses on the wire at the relatively high velocities at which theindividual parts of aerial-mine move when the mine is laid out and the wire is therefore wound in such manner that the rotation of the spool caused by the rifling of the gun assists the unwinding process and reduces the stresses on the wire. The wire is wound so that the direction of rotation of the spool necessary for unwinding coincides with the direction of rotation of the spool caused by the rifling moves a little farther forward due to forces of inertia and then falls to the ground. Unfolding of the parachute does not take place until the mine a has acquired a certain speed and wire i is.

stretched out. Then the air friction is great enough to unfold the parachute. At thismomerit-the whole wire is already stretched out and the device is fully ready for action.

The laid out mine, wire and parachute is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 3. The wire, in fact, is much longer in proportion to the other parts shown in Fig. 3 as could beindicated in said figure; that is why the wire' is shown broken in Fig. 3.

The mine is already effective for air defense as long as the wire is unwound and only the shell 0 is thrown away because at this time the mine proper a hangs freely on the wire. If an aircraft crosses the wire the pulling up effect is increased by the forward motion of the spool and head piece. Also the mine 9 itself, due to forcesof inertia, moves upward toward the aircraft to be destroyed so that the action of the new aerial mine is very quick also while it is layed out. The

operation of the anti-aircraft guns. projecting the air is therefore the same as when shooting the gun must be aimed somewhat more ahead of the aircraft to be brought down and thetlming of the timefuse canbe less accurate.

If the projectile must be confined to very small calibers, the shell c can be much reduced in size or completely omitted. Such embodiments of the present invention are shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 4, the

shell I covers only part of the mine proper 8.

Thestem lextendsintotheminei andshelll is pushed onto the mine.

In Fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention is shown where the charge ll for disassembling the device in the air is arranged between the mine proper ii and the wire spool i. No shell is provided. The stem i2 extends into the mine proper and has lateral openings to provide an outlet for the fuse d.

The parts which are pushed into one another may be provided with projections and recesses l4 inFig. 1, l5 inFig. 4, and 'lGinFig. 5 toprevent relative rotational displacement.

Characteristic for all embodiments of the present invention is that when the device is unfolded in the air, first the mine proper is separated,

1. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a head piece provided with a substantially annular cavity, a parachute folded. therewithin, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and being coiled into a compact spool body closing said cavity, and an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire, said fold ed up parachute, said spool and said bomb all having substantially the sme outside diameter and being positioned coaxially and in line with and directly adjacent to one another, and a separating charge disposed for acting between said bomb and said spool body for separating said bomb from said spool body.

2. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a substantially hollow head piece, a parachute folded therewithin, a shell having a closed bottom portion, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and being coiled into a compact spoolbody, an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire and disposed in said bottom portion, said folded up parachute, said spool and said bomb all having substantially the same outside diameter and being positioned coamaily and in line with and directly adjacent to one another, a stem member rigidly connected with the interior of said headpiece and extending centrally through said headpiece, through said folded up parachute, and through said spool body, and a bursting charge disposed in said bottom portion adjacent to said bomb for removing said shell and setting free said bomb.

3. An air defense device comprising a projectile pact spool body, an explosive bomb connected withtheotherendofsaidwireanddisposedin against said spool body,

through said headpiece, through said folded up bomb from said spool body at a predetermined moment.

parachute, into said spool body and through said bomb, and a bursting charge disposed in said bottom portion adjacent to said bomb for removing said shell member and setting free said bomb;

4. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a substantially pointed hollow forward portion having an open rear end, a stem member rigidly connected with the interior of said portion and extending centrally therethrough, a parachute folded within said forward portion and around said stem member, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and being coiled around said stem member and forming a compact spool body disposed in line and coaxially with and directly adjacent to said folded up parachute and closing the open rear end of said hollow forward portion, an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire and being positioned co'- axially and in line with and directly abutting and a separating charge disposed between said spool body and said bomb for separating said bomb from said spool body.

5. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a substantially pointed hollow forward portion having an open rear end, a stem member rigidly connected with the interior of said portion and extending centrally therethrough, a parachute folded within said forwardportion and around said stem member, a wire connected at one end withv said parachute and being coiled around said stem member and forming a compact spool body disposed in line and coaxially with and directly adjacent to said folded up parachute and closing the open rear end of said hollow forward portion and forming the middle portion of said projectile, an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire and removably connected with said stem member and coaxially and in line with and directly abutting against said spool body and forming the rear end of said projectile, and a separating charge disposed adjacent to said bomb and to said stem member for liberating said bomb.

6. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a headpiece provided with a substantially annular cavity, a parachute folded therewithin, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and being coiled into a compact spool body, and

an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire, said folded up parachute, said spool and said bomb all having substantially the same outside diameter-and being positioned coaxially and in line with and directly adjacent to one another, said spool body having a cavity closed by said bomb, and a separating charge disposed in said cavity of said spool body for separating said '7. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a substantially pointed hollow forward portion having an open rear end and containing an automatically actuated fuse, a hollow stem member rigidly connected with the interior of said portion and extending centrally therethrough, a parachute folded within said forward portion and around said stem member, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and being coiled around said stem member and forming a compactspool body disposed in line and coaxially with and directly adjacent to said folded up parchute and closing the open rear end of said hollow forward portion, an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire and being positioned coaxially and in line with and directly abutting against said spool body, said spool body having a cavity closed by said bomb, a separating charge disposed substantially at the rear end of said bomb, said fuse extending through said stem member, said cavity and said bomb into said separating charge, the pressure produced when said fuse and'charge is burnt acting in said cavity and separating said bomb and spool body.

8. An air defense device comprising a projectile having a substantially pointed hollow forward portion having an open rear end, a stem member rigidly connected with the interior of said portion and extending centrally therthrough, a parachute folded within said forward portion and around said stem member, a wire connected at one end with said parachute and .being coiled around said stem member and forming a compact spool body having a substantially cylindrical outside surface and being disposed in line and co-.

axially with and directly adjacent to said folded upparachute and closing the open rear end of said hollow forward portion, an explosive bomb connected with the other end of said wire and being positioned coaxially and in line with and directly abutting against said spool body, the portion of said spool body adjacent to saidbomb having a substantially flat annular surface abutting against said bomb and having a smaller diameter than the outside diameter of said body, said spool body flaring from said surface outward to the cylindrical outside surface of said body and forming an annular recess, said spool body spool body.

ERECH arm 

